


(Night) Terrors

by girlsgonewild



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora and Bow love when they get along, Catra (She-Ra) Needs a Hug, Catra and Glimmer are good friends you can fight me, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Glimmer (She-Ra) is a Good Friend, TRIGGER WARNING : descriptions of anxiety/panic attacks, and ptsd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:41:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27863238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlsgonewild/pseuds/girlsgonewild
Summary: "Today Catra is plagued by insomnia, the guilt of a past not so distant often makes her sleep come harder, usually, the thoughts are pushed aside by the sweet blonde that lays beside her in bed, but tonight, the warm comfort of Adora isn’t an option. The warrior princess is away on a trip to rebuild a town near Brightmoon, and won’t be back until tomorrow, so the brunet has lost all hope of going back to sleep.She strolls along the empty halls mindlessly, until she reaches the portrait hall. This hall is Catra’s favorite, she likes to watch the old paintings of hero’s and old monarchs, they are pretty and something she has never seen before in her life. Despite the taste for art, there is one at the end of the hall that Catra never dares to see. Queen Angella. Glimmer’s mother vanished in the portal that Catra opened."
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Catra & Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 45
Collections: Adventures in BrightMoon: Life after the war





	(Night) Terrors

The cool night air filled the halls of the silent Castle. The big hallways are silent, as everyone is resting in their quarters, peacefully, as they all do now, with no looming threat of war over their heads. In the shadows a feline figure roams the halls at a terrifying low volume, almost merging as one with the silence that seems too unfamiliar for someone who fell asleep to the rustling and cracking of old machinery. 

Today Catra is plagued by insomnia, the guilt of a past not so distant often makes her sleep come harder, usually, the thoughts are pushed aside by the sweet blonde that lays beside her in bed, but tonight, the warm comfort of Adora isn’t an option. The warrior princess is away on a trip to rebuild a town near Brightmoon, and won’t be back until tomorrow, so the brunet has lost all hope of going back to sleep. 

She strolls along the empty halls mindlessly, until she reaches the portrait hall. This hall is Catra’s favorite, she likes to watch the old paintings of hero’s and old monarchs, they are pretty and something she has never seen before in her life. Despite the taste for art, there is one at the end of the hall that Catra never dares to see. Queen Angella. Glimmer’s mother vanished in the portal that Catra opened. 

Tonight, she dares to step into the sight of the old queen, and the sight is more than breathtaking. She has never met the old monarch, but from the descriptions she heard she can tell that the amazing painting doesn't do her justice. She was truly a remarkable beauty and even through her painting, there is this air about her, she commands respect by just being, and her eyes are full of kindness, full of love, a love that Catra hasn’t been able to experience growing up, Shadow Weaver was never remotely loving, and that has a bitter taste in her tongue, the sorceress was the closest thing to a mother figure that Catra has ever known but she would never be a mother, not the way Angella was to Glimmer, or even Adora at some point in their relationship. 

An unsettling feeling rises in her stomach. This is all her fault. Adora wasn’t able to have that love all because Catra opened that portal. Glimmer lost her mother and the grief made her use the heart and lure Prime in, all because of the portal. And all for what? Some petty revenge? Some way to get back at the person she loves the most in the whole wide universe, for leaving a though situation for a better one? How could she ever blame Adora for leaving? 

She looked at the queen. How could she blame Adora for leaving to have something like that? Like her...Her chest tightens, she shouldn’t be here, she didn’t deserve to be here, how could they ever have forgiven her? How could they look her in the eye knowing what she did, what she destroyed? How could Glimmer call her a... friend? She didn’t deserve their love, not when she took so much. 

The thoughts grow louder in a loop on her head and before she can stop herself, the tears flood her face as the lump in her throat becomes bigger making it impossible to breathe. She struggles taking a few steps back and falls on the ground. Her chest tightens and its suffocating, it hurts too much to breathe, and she can’t see or hear really, her vision is flooded with tears and there’s a loud ringing in her ears, all sense of reality is lost as her thoughts take over 

You are worthless It’s an all too familiar voice 

She shakes her head, no this isn't real, she isn’t here. Out of reflex of an old habit she looks towards the shadows where the moons light doesn’t touch and a part of her swears, she sees them moving 

“No!” she screams and moves back franticly 

The world around her seems to morph and all of a sudden, the line between reality and memories is nonexistent and she screams and cries and claws at her skin, and she can tell if it’s her or the voices in her head, but her throat is sore and her lungs hurt and she can’t breathe black dots cloud her vision, and something inside her is telling her that this is the end, that she is leaving this world for good. 

“Catra!” This was a new voice, so familiar, but not terrifying, soothing even 

“Catra, it’s okay, you can breathe” Glimmer says, breaking the trance ever so slightly, enough for reality to dissolve from the lucid dram 

The hand on her shoulder from the younger queen helps her get grounded and somewhere in the fog of her mind she remembers what Perfuma taught her once, breathe in until 4 exhale until 8, she tries to steady her breathing “Yeah, that’s it, Catra, you’re doing great” the young queen soothingly caresses her upper arm Catra can see her now, smiling sweetly. Catra’s memory is jogged by the smile of the eldest queen and all her progress backtracks as the feelings of guilt swarm her chest, and in an act of uncharacteristic behavior, she hugs the young queen tight, leaving the sparkling girl surprised, by the sudden show of physical affection 

“I’m sorry Glimmer, I’m so sorry” Catra sobs, it hurts her throat but she keeps apologizing profusely and incoherently 

Glimmer is confused, but she looks at the portrait of her mother makes her realize why she found Catra in such a state of despair. She sighs, and rubs Catra’s hair gently, hitting the spot behind her ears, that she knows the cat girl likes, even though she never admits it. “It’s okay Catra, it’s okay, I’m right here” 

After a few more minutes the feline calms down a little, and Glimmer decides that now she can speak “You know I forgive you right?” Glimmer pulls Catra up so she can look her right 

“How? I hurt you so much! I hurt Adora and I took something very important from you, she should be here not me!” Catra speaks hoarsely looking down in shame 

“You know, I used to blame myself for her sacrifice” the queen chuckles half-heartedly “The last time we spoke, I called her a coward, and maybe, if I hadn’t said that, maybe she wouldn’t have jumped into that portal, and maybe she would be here” she sighs “But if she hadn’t it would have been Adora in her place, and I wouldn’t be able to live with that, neither would she, and neither would you” she pauses to look at the reaction of her friend, that is crying yet again, the thought of Adora dying makes Catra’s fur stand on end, and a pain in her chest settles at the mere thought “You know, I used to resent her a lot. She would never let me do things my way, and sometimes was very controlling, I know she was only trying to protect me, and still I resented her for it, now, I miss it. But I also know that all she ever wanted for me, for us, was for to find happiness. And yes, I miss her every day like crazy, and yes sometimes I get mad that you choose to pull off the switch, but I also learned that you were not presented with the best situation, even though that doesn’t excuse your actions, it makes me understand the hurt you were under, because at some point I felt it too, and we both made mistakes we deeply regret, but our friends choose to forgive us, and what matters is we are getting better, you are getting better. And I forgive you, because I see you have changed, besides you saved my life, I think I owe you that” she laughed a little and the other girl laughed as well, as she untangles herself from the embrace of limbs 

“Thank you Glimmer, for your forgiveness” Catra whispers “I’ll make sure you won’t regret it” 

Glimmer smiles and pulls the feline into another hug, that she accepts “I know horde scum, I know” 

They laugh it off eventually, as friends do, deciding to get up from the floor because they are both very tired and in need of sleep “Now c’mon, let’s have a sleepover” The queen bumps a first against the brunet shoulder 

“Geez, Sparkles, are you trying to get into my pants?” she laughs as Glimmer rolls her eyes 

“I know you have trouble sleeping on your own, and honestly without Bow, I have too, so we should help each other out” she smiles 

“Okay, we’ll have a sleepover or whatever” Catra mutters her ears coming down 

Glimmer claps excitedly and hooks her arm on the taller one’s “Did I ever tell you the first night Adora slept here I woke up to her in my bed?” 

“Oh really?” Catra smirked “Should I be concerned you were hitting on my girlfriend?” 

“Oh, shut up” she grumbles and laughs “She scared the crap out of me! You should have seen her...” 

The two girls talked about anything and everything until they fell asleep, in a friendly embrace. The comforting presence of a friend was all that they needed. 

When morning came, Bow and Adora found their respective significant others asleep in Glimmer’s bed, which they found very adorable and cute, and for good measure, Bow decides to capture the moment in photography, for them to look at later. Needless to say, that after trying unsuccessfully to attempt murder Catra, decided that having annoying friends isn’t a bad thing after all, but she wouldn’t dare admit it out loud.


End file.
